I wish I could buy it just to help him, but I cannot. I was thinking it might be a good idea to raffel or auction it in conjunction with a benefit for him in order to get even more money for him. Maybe at a Further show? Any thoughts?

Something isn't right here. I emailed and asked him who made the guitar and when, and to describe the materials and wiring. His response:

+++I can gather all the technical info for you in the AM. However, the luthier prefers to remain anonymous. He got very angry at me years ago when someone contacted him. I can't reveal his name. Sorry!!!Hunter

- machinefunk1987+++

The phiga site clearly shows a photo of this same guitar with finish intact.

That is odd. I'll try contacting him today and see what's up with that. I don't know him or anything. Just wanted to help him, but if it's a scam I'll get to the bottom of it. I hope this guy isn't lying.

"Thanks for your kind words!!!I hope you didn't have a problem with my text being all upper case. Some lunatic on here(not interested in the guitar)keeps e-mailing me about the size of my text!!! MOST PEOPLE ARE NUTS!!!I can only speak from my only experience with Phil and not yours. I gave his name to someone a few years ago and he did not appreciate it at all. No one is going to buy this guitar!!! It would have already happened, if that were the case. I am not a guitar wizard. I don't know how to play it very well at all. I bought it as more of a showpiece than a daily player. It is really good shape. I have all the technical details from Phil's site.I am not trying to hide anything from anyone. Sorry that you feel that way.Thanks for looking!!! Thanks for spreading the word about the sale of my most prized possession!!! I hate to sell it, but dead men don't play 3 chords!!!Again thanks for your kind words about my wrestling match with cancer. I was told I would be dead in December of 2010!!!I am a walking miracle!!!"Hunter

"Thanks for your kind words!!!I hope you didn't have a problem with my text being all upper case. Some lunatic on here(not interested in the guitar)keeps e-mailing me about the size of my text!!! MOST PEOPLE ARE NUTS!!!I can only speak from my only experience with Phil and not yours. I gave his name to someone a few years ago and he did not appreciate it at all. No one is going to buy this guitar!!! It would have already happened, if that were the case. I am not a guitar wizard. I don't know how to play it very well at all. I bought it as more of a showpiece than a daily player. It is really good shape. I have all the technical details from Phil's site.I am not trying to hide anything from anyone. Sorry that you feel that way.Thanks for looking!!! Thanks for spreading the word about the sale of my most prized possession!!! I hate to sell it, but dead men don't play 3 chords!!!Again thanks for your kind words about my wrestling match with cancer. I was told I would be dead in December of 2010!!!I am a walking miracle!!!"Hunter

So, there ya go.

I hope the dude recovers and gets healthy. But it still smakcs off something being off. I don't know who'd dish out thousands if they can only play 3 chords or how someone would have their prized possession something they wanted as a "showpiece". Of course we all know how the written word can be misinterpreted differently than the spoken word!

In his pics you can def see some dead paraphanelia . It just seems odd there he didn't bust out the typical spec lingo. And from its condition it looks like its been player... I'm not judging anyone or anything here. I hope all ends well with the man . But when I first saw it a few days ago, I was like " holy shit that's a pricey Phiga" ..

FWIW, I'm the "lunatic on here (not interested in the guitar) keeps e-mailing me about the size of my text"

I sent him a friendly message wishing him well with the guitar and his health, and suggesting that he should make the description normal typeface rather than all caps because it is easier to read and makes the ad more attractive.

He wrote a dismissive reply saying that what is "normal" to me might be abnormal to him. So I wrote another friendly email with links explaining why the vast majority of people find all caps hard to read (and again wishing him well). He then wrote a very rude reply.

So much for trying to be helpful...

If this is legit (?) and he really wants to sell the guitar, he should have the finish fixed himself. I can't really see a Phiga with obvious finish issues selling for $4,000. If it does sell as-is, he'll probably have to reduce the price to the point where he'll lose more than it would cost to have it fixed.